![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Well, now. I just found out I'm Jewish! *cue headdesking*
Once more, because apparently word is still circulating that Samhain itself is a festival (Sheesh, folks...could you actually read the Wiki article on it? Please?):
(an t-)Samhain(n) is the Irish Gaelic/Scottish Gaelic word for what is approximately the month of November.
The words you're looking for are Feis na Samhna, i.e., 'Feast of November' (Note the declension, kids!) If you're going to say it the old-fashioned way, at the very least you could make the attempt to get it right. Otherwise, just call it 'Hallowe'en', mmkay?
But this isn't what has me facepalming the most. No, what has me in laugh-or-else-I'll-cry mode is that it's been turned into a Jewish observance. You see, 'sabbat' is a corruption of the Hebrew word Sabbath, derived from the verb shabbat, or 'to cease'. It's not a celebration: it's the weekly period of rest observed in both Judaism and Christianity.
There's an interesting theory here about how the term 'sabbat' came to be connected to witches, but it really has no historical bearing other than common folklore. If you're discussing the modern Wiccan/neopagan observance, it's one thing. But use of the term to describe the historical occurrence of Hallowe'en/Feis na Samhna is, well, facepalm-worthy.
Once more, because apparently word is still circulating that Samhain itself is a festival (Sheesh, folks...could you actually read the Wiki article on it? Please?):
(an t-)Samhain(n) is the Irish Gaelic/Scottish Gaelic word for what is approximately the month of November.
The words you're looking for are Feis na Samhna, i.e., 'Feast of November' (Note the declension, kids!) If you're going to say it the old-fashioned way, at the very least you could make the attempt to get it right. Otherwise, just call it 'Hallowe'en', mmkay?
But this isn't what has me facepalming the most. No, what has me in laugh-or-else-I'll-cry mode is that it's been turned into a Jewish observance. You see, 'sabbat' is a corruption of the Hebrew word Sabbath, derived from the verb shabbat, or 'to cease'. It's not a celebration: it's the weekly period of rest observed in both Judaism and Christianity.
There's an interesting theory here about how the term 'sabbat' came to be connected to witches, but it really has no historical bearing other than common folklore. If you're discussing the modern Wiccan/neopagan observance, it's one thing. But use of the term to describe the historical occurrence of Hallowe'en/Feis na Samhna is, well, facepalm-worthy.